Constitutional Court of Uganda - 2021

46 judgments
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46 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
December 2021
10 December 2021

 

7 December 2021
October 2021
5 October 2021
September 2021
1 September 2021
August 2021
Court upheld ACD and section 34, struck down BOU freezing/immunity provisions and ordered protracted freezes lifted.
Constitutional law – Judicial organisation – Chief Justice’s power to create divisions of the High Court; Anti‑corruption law – Section 34 Anti‑Corruption Act – Court‑ordered freezing/restriction of assets; Property rights – Article 26 and limitations under Article 43 – proportionality and reasonable time; Financial regulation – Sections 118 & 124 FIA – Central Bank power to freeze accounts and immunity from suit; Access to court – right to judicial review of executive/regulatory freezing orders; Remedies – discharge of prolonged freezing orders; No damages where insufficient evidence.
26 August 2021
23 August 2021
19 August 2021
19 August 2021
Court struck down key Anti‑Pornography Act provisions as vague, unjustifiably limiting expression and infringing privacy and property rights.
Constitutional law — Criminal law vagueness — Definition of "pornography" overly broad and vague — Principle of legality (Art.28(12)) — Freedom of expression limitation unjustified (Art.43) — Enforcement powers infringe privacy, property and liberty (Arts.23,26,27) — Evidentiary rules in constitutional petitions.
13 August 2021
9 August 2021
July 2021
The court held elections in new districts in 2016 unconstitutional, but upheld the Electoral Commission's legitimacy and MPs' dual cabinet roles.
Constitutional law – validity of parliamentary elections in newly created districts – interpretation of conflicting statutes – competence of Electoral Commission – separation of powers – dual role of Members of Parliament as Cabinet Ministers.
29 July 2021
23 July 2021
Court upheld Press and Journalist Act provisions, dismissing applicants' challenges to media regulation and licensing.
Constitutional law — Freedom of expression — Challenge to Press and Journalist Act — Void-for-vagueness and Article 28(12) — Public morality limitation and Article 29(1)(a) — Media Council composition, ministerial powers and regulatory independence — Licensing/accreditation and professional regulation of journalism — Suspension pending appeal — Justifiability under Article 43(2)(c) (proportionality/necessity).
23 July 2021
23 July 2021
Prohibition of contingent‑fee agreements in the Advocates Act and related regulation is not unconstitutional; petition dismissed.
* Constitutional jurisdiction – Article 137 – petitions challenging statutes and regulations for inconsistency with the Constitution. * Advocates Act – Contingent Fee Agreements – s.55(1)(b) and Regulation 26 – constitutionality of prohibiting CFAs. * Freedom of contract – not absolute; Parliament may regulate professions for public interest. * Section 51 requirements for remuneration agreements – protective formalities and enforceability; application to representative suits. * Role of courts v. Parliament – policy or reform arguments are for the legislature, not constitutional nullification absent inconsistency.
22 July 2021

Constitutional law—military tribunals—General Court Martial—jurisdiction—military discipline—trial of civilians—service offences—constitutional authority—independence and impartiality—military law and civil offences—rights to fair trial—legislative intent—constitutional interpretation—consistency with constitutional provisions—remedies

1 July 2021
May 2021
Constitutional Court lacks jurisdiction over disguised election petitions; Section 86 provides the High Court remedy and s.86(5) appeal limit is void.
Constitutional jurisdiction – Article 137 – limits of Constitutional Court jurisdiction; Election law – Parliamentary Elections Act s.60–61 vs s.86 – membership questions; Procedure – Section 86 application to Attorney General and High Court for vacancy determination; Appeal route – s.86(5) inconsistent with Article 86 to the extent it permits appeal to Supreme Court; Disguised election petition doctrine.
25 May 2021
11 May 2021
4 May 2021
4 May 2021
4 May 2021
4 May 2021
April 2021
Six‑month statutory timeframe for parliamentary election appeals is directory; late Court of Appeal judgments are not void.
Constitutional law – election petitions – appellate jurisdiction – Article 132 and Section 14 Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act 2010 – six‑month statutory timeframe for election appeals held directory not mandatory – delayed appellate judgments not void – binding effect of Supreme Court precedent.
27 April 2021
27 April 2021
27 April 2021
27 April 2021
27 April 2021
27 April 2021
Whether the Electoral Commission could 'retire' its voters register and substitute it with National ID data without breaching Article 61(1)(e).
Electoral law – Voters’ register – Article 61(1)(e) – duty to compile, maintain, revise and update; limits on 'retiring' register; use of National ID databanks as an aid, not substitution; administrative fairness and right to vote; scope of Article 64 appeals vs constitutional interpretation.
27 April 2021
Majority: petition dismissed for lack of Constitutional Court jurisdiction; dissent would have declared unregistered “People Power” activities contrary to Article 72(2).
Constitutional jurisdiction — Article 137 — distinction between interpretation petitions and enforcement/rights petitions; Political organisations — Article 72(2) — requirement to conform to Article 71 and to register before operating as political parties/organisations; Freedom of association — Article 29(1)(e) — scope and limits where associational activity overlaps regulated political‑party functions; Procedural — suing non‑registered entities vs individuals; Attorney General duties — Article 119(4)(a) and limitations of AG’s obligation to act.
27 April 2021
27 April 2021
Constitutional Court struck petition challenging internet and mobile-money shutdowns for lack of Article 137 interpretative jurisdiction.
Constitutional jurisdiction — Article 137 — interpretation versus enforcement; freedom of expression and ‘‘other media’’ (internet/social media); Article 43 limitations and proportionality; rights to livelihood (mobile money) and emerging digital rights; petition struck out for lack of interpretative question.
27 April 2021
1 April 2021
March 2021
18 March 2021
EC's failure to review constituencies after censuses breached Articles 61 and 63; Parliament's county‑creation practice violated Articles 63 and 179.
Constitutional law — Electoral law — Article 63(1) (Parliament prescribes number of constituencies) vs Article 63(5) (EC must review/re‑demarcate within 12 months of census) — failure to review after 2002 and 2014 censuses unconstitutional; Parliamentary creation of counties/constituencies without following constitutional/local‑government procedures contravenes Articles 63 and 179; retention of one woman MP per district lawful under Article 78(2).
18 March 2021
18 March 2021
Parliament may set nomination fees; higher fees not automatically unconstitutional absent proof they unjustifiably limit the right to stand.
Constitutional law – public participation in legislation – no constitutional time‑frame; Electoral law – nomination fees – permissibility and proportionality of fees as regulatory measures not additional qualifications; Right to stand – derogable right subject to demonstrably justifiable limitations; Comparative practice in election law.
15 March 2021
Constitutional Court dismisses petition as res judicata; enforcement of rights and damages must be pursued in High Court.
* Constitutional law – Article 137 – jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court limited to ‘‘questions as to interpretation’’; res judicata applies to constitutional interpretations previously decided. * Separation of powers – Parliamentary inquiries and PAC reports cannot be relitigated where constitutional interpretation has already been determined; enforcement and factual disputes belong to ordinary courts under Article 50. * Consent judgments – treated as contracts; can be set aside only on ordinary contractual/estoppel or illegality grounds in a competent court. * Judicial accountability – judges are accountable to constitutionally mandated bodies (e.g., Judicial Service Commission) as clarified by higher court authority.
15 March 2021
The Court dismissed the applicants' challenge to Busoga leadership elections for lacking a constitutional interpretation question.
Constitutional jurisdiction – Article 137 – Constitutional Court’s jurisdiction limited to interpretation of the Constitution; disputes over cultural institution leadership (Article 246) are factual and may be pursued under Article 50 or by judicial review; res judicata where prior court decisions addressed the same constitutional questions.
15 March 2021
11 March 2021
9 March 2021
Applicant’s challenge to Government–company agreement dismissed for lacking constitutional interpretation and failing on merits.
Constitutional jurisdiction – Article 137 – requirement of a question as to interpretation; equality and non‑discrimination (Art.21) – limits of challenge where no statute is impugned; economic rights (Art.40(2)) – requirement to prove deprivation of right; public finance and guarantees (Arts.152–159, 153–154) – matters for judicial review/Parliament; procedural bars – prior dismissal and non‑joinder; right to fair hearing – necessity to join directly affected private party.
4 March 2021
Petition challenging closed party primaries and nominations struck out for lack of justiciable constitutional question.
* Constitutional law – political parties – internal primaries and nominations – private party processes versus citizens’ voting rights; * Justiciability and jurisdiction – whether exclusion from party primaries raises a constitutional question; * Electoral law – candidate nomination and the limits of constitutional review of party internal affairs.
1 March 2021
February 2021
22 February 2021
Court declared Rule 11 discriminatory, read Section 2(1) as directory, upheld Section 19(4), and dismissed budget‑omission claim.
Constitutional law — civil procedure — statutory notice before suing State — directory v mandatory construction; Equality before the law — Rule giving Attorney General longer time to plead discriminatory and unjustified; Public finance and separation of powers — execution against Government and the Consolidated Fund; Burden of proof for alleging failure to appropriate judgment debts.
9 February 2021
Court dismissed unequal‑pay and access‑to‑information petition, finding no substantial constitutional interpretation issue and insufficient evidence.
Constitutional jurisdiction – Article 137 – distinction between interpretation and enforcement; Equality and non‑discrimination – Article 21 – burden to prove discrimination attributable to prohibited grounds; Equal pay for equal work – Article 40 – differences may be justified by objective factors and statutory autonomy; Access to information – Article 41 and Access to Information Act 2005 – statutory enforcement mechanisms and requirement to exhaust remedies.
4 February 2021